When Miracles Happen
by HylianWolfos94
Summary: Depression filled the house of the young Deku couple. It had been a month ago since having learned they were unable to have kids. At this time, Jace was desperate to have his smiling wife back, children or no. But sometimes, the greatest things lie just at the end of the darkest of life's tunnels.


A continuation from Hard Truths.

* * *

The Deku sat silently as he rubbed a cloth over one of his swords to wipe it of dust. He made it a chore of his to always clean his collections weekly. Living underground, everything got pretty dusty quickly. While it was a chore, it was a chore Jace didn't mind. However, he couldn't quit noticing his Hylian wife pacing back and forth through the house as she looked for things to do... He glanced up at her as she walked through the den and placed things neatly... This was incredibly odd, as she's _never_ been obsessive about the placement of things or how neat things looked.

He then reminded himself that she's been sorta depressed- Actually, _incredibly_ depressed, since their appointment to the doctor in Clock Town about a month ago. It felt like time froze for them both on that day, and it hadn't unfroze since. While she lost it in a fit of both anger and sadness that day, she's resorted to holding it all in now, but Jace didn't like that. He'd much rather her talk about it, than either angrily punch something or remain quiet. She still had a slight bruise on her knuckles from punching a Clock Town pole that day they went to the doctor, though you couldn't really see it because of her dark fleshy-wooden skin. Currently, her depression only worsened as days went on from then. She became even more finicky and jumpy than before, and she _had_ to be doing something to get her mind off things, or it drove her mad.

Alas, it was all slowly changing her, and that was sad to see. Jace was once working on an extra room, but stopped digging it out after learning they weren't able to have children. He discussed adoption with Iris, but it didn't set well with her yet, as she was still hurting after learning her incapability. All he could do was watch her do this day after day, as she became as jumpy as she once was as a teenager. The time finally came that he just couldn't watch her walk in circles.

"Iris, please..." He finally said.  
She stopped to look at him "What?"  
"You've done everything you can around the house, just... Please rest." He sighed, standing to put his sword back on the wall where it once sat displayed. He turned to continue "This isn't you. If you're looking for something to do, do something you _enjoy_."  
She slowly turned to him, then looked down a bit. "I'm just bored. T-there's nothing to do."  
"There's plenty to do without running yourself ragged." He corrected "We could go out and do something?"  
"I don't feel like going anywhere." She responded.  
Jace rubbed his head and adopted a look of burden. She said that pretty much every time. He wasn't sure what else he could do... She hadn't talked about what was bothering her for weeks now and was bottling everything up. He was worrying a lot about her, and only wanted her happy again. For her to just not talk to him about anything felt unsettling. She vanished into the dark hall toward their room, only to briefly stare in at the empty unfinished room across from theirs- then turned to walk back to their room.

She knew well he didn't like this new side of her, but didn't know how to change. She was at war with her emotions all the time, and didn't feel like throwing it all at her partner. Though, living under the same earthy-roof with him didn't change that.

Jace followed to their room, and ended up sitting at the foot of their bed, then let himself fall back with a deep breathe. His eyes were closed, as only his senses could feel Iris in the room. His eyes opened as he looked over at the golden-oldie Terminan clock on the wall, and he spoke. "Come to bed, it's late..."  
"I am..." She responded lowly  
She did so, and laid there silently as she tried falling asleep. They shared a sense that they knew each other were still awake, and Jace couldn't help but finally sit up a bit. Iris never moved, though. She kept her back facing toward him and shivered a little. This made Jace a little concerned. It _was_ easing into Winter, which was the time Iris had to worry about most. His leaves lowered, thinking to himself. Back when they were kids and on their travels through Termina, this is when they'd bundle up together as they camped out at some unknown territory and tell stories or joke. He smiled at the thought, then returned to now to see his now wife laying cold and shivering next to him... So what he would've done a long time ago was exactly what he was about to do.

She jumped when she felt an extra blanket fly over her, then felt the blanket be pressed tightly around her by an arm, and her wild Hylian eyes looked back to see Jace smile at her.  
"You looked cold." he said.  
She blinked a few times before words found their way through her voice. "Thank you...~"  
He heard a smile in her tone, and that was good enough for him. He managed to make her smile, and that was a win on his part.  
"Iris, I-... I really miss spending time with you. You've been so distant, and I miss you." He paused, feeling hearing him say these things may mean something to her, as they were honest "Can you stay awake and enjoy the night with me?"  
"Uh-..." Iris wasn't expecting that.  
"I-If not, I understand." He looked a bit sheepish and laid his head down, his snout laying across her arm- much like a sad puppy. He was purposely being silly, and he was aiming for a chuckle. She did, and his spirits lifted a bit more. He himself laughed a little at his antic.

She sighed, then answered "... You know, I'd love to stay up with you."  
Jace's leaves flicked and he raised his head a bit. He placed his hand on hers and laid his head back down against her arm lightly.  
"I was hoping you'd say that." he was thinking _mission accomplished_. "It's a beautiful night, too nice to spend sleeping." He gazed up through the skylight in the ceiling, seeing the darkened blue sky and the glimmering of the stars through the jungle clearing. Iris turned to see what he was looking at.  
"Doesn't the room look so much better with that skylight? It doesn't feel so dark and stuffy in here anymore. It was so bland before."  
Iris tilted her head, holding an appreciation herself for the skylights Jace put throughout their home. A natural Deku instinct made her love the night, and enjoyed staring at it even underground.

"They are nice." She responded.  
Jace cuddled his snout against her leaves and he held her. They continued talking, however. Conversations came and changed, but Jace never let Iris go, as he was going to keep her warm. She wasn't shivering anymore. She had at least two blankets over her, plus Jace's warmth. She was certainly warm enough. Conversations slowly stopped, and they ended up laying awake with nothing to say.

"...Hey." Jace finally spoke.  
"Yeah?" She answered.  
He didn't respond right away, but he had a look of thought on his face. Iris already knew what he was going to say, and looked sad suddenly. By this, Jace held back his question and never said anything. But he picked up his smile again, and spoke after thinking his words through "It's been a while since we've had time together like this."  
"I know..."  
"Please don't shy away anymore..." he said softly "Don't think about all that's made you feel sad. Let's put it behind us tonight."  
"It's easier said than done." She questioned.  
He nodded "I know, but... It never stopped us from enjoying each other's company before. I don't want you beating yourself up over the things we can't do, but be thankful for the things we can. Or the fact both of us are still here after all we've been through in the past. We have a lot to be proud of already."

"..." Iris was quiet as a mouse, then looked at Jace. He looked her right in the eyes, and his expression screamed for her to finally put it behind her and not let the sadness change her, for he wanted his wife back and nothing else at this point. Honestly, she wanted herself back as well. She smiled weakly at him through her spirit-lit eyes, answering his question with just a glance, and her response seemed difficult but honest. Jace nudged his snout to hers to kiss her softly, in a manner to assure her that things would be okay from here on out. Though, he prayed tomorrow would be the same as tonight and that she'd start to recover from her deeply depressed state. This was the most recovery he'd seen so far, so he was hopeful. At the moment, though, they were focused on now rather than tomorrow.

Silence filled the underground grotto-like home, no sound but the crickets chirping and birds outside. The sky was still washed in the night's blue coat, with only a vague shine of light on the horizon and the speckled lights that remained of stars. Though, given the Swamp jungle's overgrown greenery, such a horizon could not be seen. Not many were even up right now, as they were sleeping.

Back to underground, the Deku home was empty of movement as expected. Not a soul was awake at the moment in this dark morning. Jace had fallen asleep facing Iris, who was bundled up warmly in the blankets... She'd actually hogged most of the blankets, but it didn't really bother Jace, apparently, as it didn't seem to interrupt his sleep any. He fell asleep with his head against Iris', and looked as if nothing could've woken him if it tried. The silence was soon broken by the sound of a knock. About six or seven knock sounds in, Jace's eyes cracked open.  
"What in the name of..." He uttered. He looked at the clock, it being four twenty-five A.M. He glared daggers at the clock for a moment, before the knock sound came again, making his droopy-sleepy leaves flick. He tried to take in the sound in his sleepy mind, before realizing someone was knocking on the door... At four in the morning... Out in the middle of the forest. Seriously, their home was far from the Deku village, who would come out this far?

He sighed as he sat up. A dark petal landed on his snout, and he shook his head of the rest. He had seriously no intentions of waking up early, and wanted to go back to sleep. He was tempted to leave them there knocking. After a while, he finally prepared to go answer the door. Or, rather, the log that acted as a door. He walked through the den and to the doorway, and slid the log out of the way to see one of the short Deku Palace guards standing eagerly awaiting someone to answer. Jace walked outside, then looked at the guard. "I hope you have a good reason for being down here at this time."  
"I'm not intruding, am I?" the guard asked. Jace was surprised this was one of those slightly more respectful guards... Sorta.  
"No, I'm always wide awake and around at four." Jace answered in a jokingly sarcastic manner. "I'm gonna hope this is an emergency, otherwise I want no part."

The guard understood his crabbiness. The guard's leaves bounced and he nodded "King Auran needs you at the Palace right away. He specifically requested for your presence, Mr. Leavance."  
Jace rubbed his face, and murmured "Oh, gods..." before adding "Fine... I'll head over right away to see what the_Royal Hiney_ wants."  
The guard bowed a bit, before scurrying off. Jace was left to walk back inside and get ready to leave. He got dressed up and slipped his vest on, then put his shoes on. He walked back to their room and grabbed his ponytail, and pulled his hair-like leaves up as usual. He turned when he saw a light hit the wall, and he turned to see Iris peak her eyes open tiredly. She squinted, noticing Jace looking like he was about to go somewhere.  
"Jace?" She asked.

"Sorry for waking you... Auran's called me to the Palace for who knows what."  
"At this time?" She seemed surprised. Jace nodded lightly, then walked over.  
"I'll be home soon I'm sure." He leaned down and pressed his snout to her forehead, then continued "You get some sleep."  
"Okay. Love you..." She laid her head back down and closed her eyes tiredly, as Jace whispered a small "I love you, too."

Jace walked out and into the morning air. He was still tired, but knew he couldn't go against King's orders. If he was requested presence, he had to go. Each step through the forest and to the village felt long and heavy. He passed through the village silently, and walked through more thick forest till he made it to the Swamp. He hopped across the water, occasionally landing on a lily pad, then made it to the Palace gates. Instantly, he was allowed entry by the gate guards. He sighed, glad he was finally here. The rest of the way was a straight walk through the hall and into the throne room. Auran stood over a table in the middle of the room looking over a map with the guard he sent to fetch Jace. The King smiled as he took notice to Jace.  
"Jace! Glad you're here!"  
"Auran, what _fantastic_ reason do you have for dragging me out this far?" Jace asked, actually very curious about Auran's reasons.  
Auran responded "I have a very important package that needs to be delivered to the Clock Town Mayor."  
"Why couldn't the Errand Boy do it?" Jace cut his eyes.  
"He's come down very sick, and this package _has_ to be delivered today. You're the only other person I could think of who could make to town and back quickly. I mean, you're amazing with shortcuts."

The blond Deku looked at the map, then at the package. He'd ask what's in the package, but he wasn't really too concerned. He looked down at the map, willingly showing an example of knowing shortcuts. "True... I know a path right through here-" he pointed at an area on the map near the Palace. "that leads straight to the Swamp Tour Guide. It's quicker than taking a boat or lily pad across the Swamp, it's just dangerous because of Babas. Though, they're not much of a concern to me so long as I avoid them. From then on, it's just a straight walk... I could probably get to Clock Town in pretty short time."  
Auran laughed a bit "I see I was right to choose you for the job." he looked up at Jace, seeing a small petal on his shoulder. He snickered "You got a little something on your shoulder."

Jace looked puzzled, then put his hand up on his shoulder and pulled the dark blue petal off and tossed it down.  
"Last I checked, it wasn't Spring." The young King smirked, making Jace roll his eyes. Auran continued "Petal dancing...?"  
"That's not really any of your concern, Auran." Jace responded.  
"Just a brother-to-brother question." Auran laughed, making a joke out of it "Careful, you might end up with more than just a bud-"  
Jace placed his hand down on the map and glared at him "I _said_ it's none of your business. That's my way of telling you to shut your snout."

Another guard came up as he heard Jace's tone. He stopped at the table, scolding Jace "You wont be talking that way to his highness! That kind of behavior is not tolerated!"  
"Go back to your post." both Auran and Jace said at the same time. Since the late King, the guards were still used to having a King who'd throw people out for even sounding remotely disrespectful.  
"Jacon is a brother of mine, he can speak however he pleases." Auran responded. The guard rudely rose his snout at Jace, then walked off back to his post. Jace hated the hoity-toity guards here. They always had something against Jace. Most of them did, anyway.

"Now then." Auran looked at Jace "You're... Very crabby, what's up? You don't usually lose your cool like that."  
Jace had been visiting the Palace from time-to-time to speak with the late Queen about Iris for the past month, given the late Queen was a mother figure to Jace. He'd been coming to her hoping for advice on the whole depression thing. He was surprised she'd never mentioned anything to Auran. But, she always was good at keeping private matters between herself and others.  
"All I was doing was giving you a friendly warning." Auran laughed. For a King, he was still obnoxious. Though, having the title of _King_ doesn't change who you are by heart. In Auran's case: _A nosey, immature, child-minded Scrub._ He was very different from his father in both good and bad ways.

"Didn't you ever come to think that maybe that warning doesn't apply to us at the moment, hmm...?" Jace sounded as if he said something obvious. "Besides, not like I have to worry about anything happening." he glared down at the map to overlook it for quicker routes to Clock Town if possible. The warning not applying to him and Iris for two reasons: One being that they _wanted_ kids. The second being that they couldn't have any anyway.  
Auran's eyes scanned over Jace for a moment, missing the last of Jace's sentence. "You mean... Wait, wait, wait... Are you guys considering kids!?"  
"Well, we were-"  
Auran slapped Jace on the back and laughed as he cut Jace off "Haha! I figured it'd be sooner or later! Man, I'm going to be an uncle. Half uncle... Whatever, we're not related, but still."  
"No, Auran, you're not going to be." Jace corrected. "Iris isn't able, so we're giving up..."  
"..." Auran froze, and put together in his head all he said earlier. He backed off a bit and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Had he known earlier their issue, he wouldn't have made a joke on it. "Ohh... I'm real sorry to hear that, I had no idea."  
"Well now you do." Jace sighed as he scratched his head "Let's just not talk about this now, okay?"

Auran gave a nod "Sure, I understand."  
Jace grabbed the package "Anyway, I'm gonna go deliver this thing."  
"Hey, when you get back to the Swamp, stop by here before heading home." Auran said. Jace stopped to look at Auran, then nodded with a small "Okay.", then walked out.

Jace followed the jungle path, and over some time it did lead out near the tour guide. It was a long walk through Termina field and to Clock Town. By the time he got there, the sun was up completely over the horizon. He did as told and delivered the package safe and sound to the mayor. He left the mayor's office and got himself a drink at the Stockpot Inn, then headed out southward again. As he returned to the Swamp, he stopped by the Palace again- tired and sleepy. He kinda regretted staying up so late last night. Had he known he'd be woken up for an urgent run to Clock Town, he'd have gone to sleep early...

But his work was worth it. He was paid for it, and it was a lot, too! After a thank you from Auran, he hopped the Swamp water, crossed through the Deku forest, through the village, and made his way home. Instead of returning home down and tired, he walked in smiling. There were some things moved in the house, so he knew Iris was up by now. "Iris! Guess what? I got paid today for running an errand for Auran!" hey called out. He chuckled as he laid the little sack of rupees down on the table in the den so he could take off his shoes. Though, Iris was awfully quiet... He grabbed the rupees again "Iris...?" he called her name hoping she would answer, but she didn't. He was a little concerned now, and his Deku smile vanished.

He quietly stepped down through the hall and peaked into their room. He sighed a breathe of relief when he saw her standing at the old scuffed mirror. She looked to be focused heavily on something, to the point she didn't even notice Jace. "Iris, are you okay...?" he could see her expression somewhat in the mirror, but he couldn't tell if it was a look of sadness or not. Her leaves twitched as she finally noticed him. She turned to him shakily. "J-Jace... I think... I think I..."

Jace's eyes went wide at what he saw, and he dropped the sack of rupees. His heart started racing, and his eyes fixated deeply on Iris' leaves. Or, more specifically, a closed flower in Iris' hair that was still alive, that sat right on the side of her head elegantly. He finally began to step toward her slowly. When he stood right in front of her, he reached up to feel the flower- as if feeling if it was actually real. Because, he wasn't sure if his eyes were bluffing or not, or if his lack of sleep was making him see things. Maybe he fell asleep on the couch when he stopped at the Inn in Clock Town and was dreaming?

Iris had glassy eyes "The flower lived overnight..."  
"..." When Jace tried to talk, all he did was voice a small squeak, much to his embarrassment. "I-I don't... I don't know what to... Say."  
She looked down, trying really hard to find something to say without crying. Jace knew that though it lived overnight, doesn't necessarily mean it'll stay. But the fact it made it this far, is good news. Maybe- just maybe, Iris finally produced a healthy flower?  
Iris finally let herself cry, happy tears of course. The moment felt a bit overwhelming for them both, in ways they didn't know how to grasp. For something so small, it felt really... _Huge_. A single tear rolled down Jace's face at seeing Iris so happy, and he smiled big. After such an emotional struggle, this was a lot to suddenly take in, but they couldn't be happier...


End file.
